The Disease is Spreading

We all want mental illness to go away. Wouldn't that be great? The truth is, the disease is spreading and we have to do something ... sooner rather than later. At times we think that the disease is getting better, but in reality, people are just getting better at hiding the symptoms. The deaths from suicide continue at a very sad rate. While searching for worldwide rates of suicide, we are talking one suicide about every 40 seconds. Alarming? Yes! Sad? Very! Acceptable? No!

We all need to open up some real conversations with people. We need to spend less time texting away and more time opening talking. It's too late for Heather, for Isaiah, for Lisa, for way too many. They already made the decision to end their lives. It's not over for the problem, though. The problem is growing by leaps and bounds. We need to share more about mental illness and let people know that there is help.

How can we do this? We can talk. We can share information. I write on my blog and share my thoughts. You could share my thoughts with others too. If you have some thoughts that could help, don't just think the thoughts. Share the thoughts. Get some conversations going. I think every school should have a class on mental illness. Everyone should know the number for the suicide hot line. 1-800-273-TALK.

Imagine if there was a class, given to every student, about mental illness. Think of the education that would be taught. Maybe we could even lower the rates of mental illness. Last I checked, mental illness was effecting about 20% of the population. If that isn't the public screaming for help, I don't know what is. No, not everyone with mental illness will choose suicide or drugs as a solution. We just need more solutions, another way for people to learn to deal with the problems.

I want all of you to share your thoughts. Talk to those in the school districts and see what can be done to share the information about mental illness. Let's work together to get mental illness to slow down, to take less lives, to destroy less lives and let's work on getting some more people better.